commit-hygiene

Overview of commit-hygiene skill

What commit-hygiene is for

The commit-hygiene skill helps you keep Git work readable and reviewable: atomic commits, smaller pull requests, and cleaner history. It is best for developers who often work past the point where a change is easy to explain, or who need a steady rule for when to commit instead of “just one more edit.” The real job-to-be-done is reducing merge risk and review friction before a change set gets too large.

Who benefits most

This commit-hygiene skill is most useful for solo developers, pair programmers, and teams that care about fast reviews or easy reverts. It is also a good fit when your repo sees feature work, refactors, or stacked PRs and you need a practical boundary for splitting work. If your workflow already enforces strict commit conventions, this skill is more about judgment than format.

What makes it different

Unlike a generic “write better commits” prompt, commit-hygiene focuses on operational signals: change size, logical boundaries, and timing. The skill is positioned for Git Workflows where the problem is not writing a commit message, but deciding when the current diff should be cut into a commit or PR. That makes it more decision-oriented than style-oriented.

How to Use commit-hygiene skill

Install and activation context

Use the commit-hygiene install flow in your Claude skills setup, then activate it whenever you are coding, reviewing a growing diff, or preparing a PR. The repository’s when-to-use guidance is specific: use it while committing code, creating PRs, or when a change set is starting to grow. If you only invoke it after a branch is already huge, you lose most of the benefit.

What input to give it

For strong commit-hygiene usage, provide the current task, what files changed, how much is done, and whether the work can be merged safely in pieces. Good input sounds like: “I changed auth flow, tests, and one UI state; should this be one commit or three?” Better still, include your current constraints: release deadline, review policy, whether rebasing is allowed, and whether the branch can be stacked. The skill is most useful when it can judge boundaries, not just polish text.

Best workflow for Git Workflows

A practical commit-hygiene guide is to start with the smallest logical unit, then ask whether the diff can stand alone. If a change includes “and” logic in its description, or mixes refactor plus behavior change, split it. For PRs, use the same discipline: if the review would require readers to understand unrelated areas at once, the change is probably too broad. This is where commit-hygiene for Git Workflows gives the biggest payoff.

Files to read first

Begin with SKILL.md because it contains the core philosophy, size thresholds, and commit timing rules. Since this repository has no supporting rules/, references/, or helper scripts, there is little else to cross-check. That means the skill is lightweight to install, but also means you should adapt the thresholds to your team instead of assuming they are universal.

commit-hygiene skill FAQ

Is commit-hygiene only for large teams?

No. The commit-hygiene skill is just as useful for a solo developer who wants a cleaner history and less painful rebases. Team settings benefit more obviously because review speed and PR size matter, but the underlying habit—cutting work into logical units—helps any Git workflow.

How is this different from a normal prompt?

A normal prompt may tell you to “make commits smaller,” but commit-hygiene gives a workflow lens: when to split, when to commit, and when a PR is getting too large. That makes it better when you need repeated decisions during active work, not just one-time advice.

Is it beginner-friendly?

Yes, if the beginner already knows basic Git terms like commit, branch, and PR. The main boundary is that it assumes you can describe your work in terms of changes and reviewability. If you are still learning Git basics, the skill can still help, but it will work best alongside a simple local workflow.

When should I not use it?

Do not rely on commit-hygiene when you need a release engineering tool, an automated commit formatter, or a policy engine that enforces repository rules. It is a judgment skill, not a validator. If your team already has rigid commit or PR automation, use this as a human decision aid rather than as the source of truth.

How to Improve commit-hygiene skill

Give it the shape of the change

The strongest way to improve commit-hygiene results is to describe the work as a set of logical outcomes, not just a file list. For example, “extract validation, update tests, and rename a field” is more actionable than “touched three files.” The skill can only help split work well if it can see which parts are independent and which are coupled.

Watch for common failure modes

The most common mistake is waiting until the diff feels uncomfortable before asking for help. Another is bundling unrelated cleanup with feature work because both are already open in your editor. If you want better commit-hygiene usage, ask early: when a branch first gains a second idea, when tests start lagging behind, or when the PR description needs an “also” clause.

Iterate after the first pass

Use the first answer to decide whether the current unit is atomic, then refine with more detail if it is not. If the skill suggests splitting, follow up with the specific branch state: what is already committed, what is still WIP, and whether you can reorder commits. This turns the skill from a generic reviewer into a practical planner for commit-hygiene for Git Workflows.

Tune it to your team’s thresholds

The repo emphasizes commit size thresholds and warning thresholds, so the best improvements come from mapping those ideas to your team’s reality. If your team reviews tiny PRs, lower the bar; if you work in a monorepo, define what “small enough” means for your context. The commit-hygiene skill is strongest when its principles are adapted to your actual review process instead of copied as-is.